Federal Parent PLUS Loans

Parents of undergraduate students can apply for Federal Parent PLUS Loans for their dependent children.

On this page:

Eligibility Requirements

Interest Rates, Fees and Repayment

Interest Rates

For PLUS Loans first disbursed from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, the interest rate is 8.94%.

For loans first disbursed after June 30, 2026, new interest rates will be released in June. 

Disbursement Fees

PLUS Loan Disbursement Fees will be deducted from each loan disbursement.

For loans first disbursed between Oct. 1, 2020 and Oct. 1, 2026, the fee is 4.228% of the disbursed amount.

Repayment Period

The repayment period for principal and interest begins the day after the loan has been fully disbursed, and the first payment is due 60 days later. Example: A Fall-Spring PLUS Loan will enter repayment after the spring loan is disbursed. 

You can choose to defer repayment until your child graduates, but that option increases your borrowing costs.

Use the Loan Simulator to estimate your monthly payments.

High Debt Warning

The Federal PLUS Loan program usually offers lower borrowing costs than private loans and includes several additional benefits, but because the process only checks for a bad credit history and doesn't evaluate your ability to afford your loan payments based on your debt to income ratio, it is easy to get approved for more than you can afford to repay. Please carefully evaluate how much you can afford to repay.

See the Consumer Reports article, "How Much Should Parents Borrow for Their Kid's College?" for help. They recommend borrowing less than your annual income.

PLUS Loan Limits

Every year you borrow a PLUS Loan, you must submit a new FAFSA and wait for the student’s Award Notification, which will explain your maximum PLUS loan amounts. 

You can use PLUS loan funds to help pay your TU charges and your other living and personal expenses. To calculate how much you need to borrow for this academic year, compare your total grants and scholarships to the estimated Cost of Attendance on your award notification. Then subtract your other aid and student loans to determine your draft loan amount. 

If you want to borrow extra to compensate for the 4.228% disbursement fees, use this formula:

Target Loan Disbursement Amount divided by 0.95712 = Adjusted Loan Request Amount.

PLUS Budget Limits

For all PLUS loan borrowers, your PLUS loans and total other aid can't exceed your Cost of Attendance budget. 

Cost of Attendance - Total Other Aid = PLUS Budget Limit.

New PLUS Borrower: Annual and Aggregate Limits

Because of revised federal law, for all new TU students for Fall 2026 and beyond, annual PLUS loan amounts also can't exceed $20,000 per year and your total aggregate PLUS Loans can't exceed $65,000. This means you can't borrow $20,000 in PLUS Loans per year for more than 3 years because of the $65,000 aggregate limit.

Unless you meet the legacy rules below, there are no other exceptions to these new federal PLUS Loan limits. If you want to borrow more than these amounts, you can apply for private loans.

Legacy/Grandfathered PLUS Limits

Based on new draft federal regulations, current TU students who received federal loan funds at TU from previous Federal Direct Subsidized, Unsubsidized, or Parent PLUS Loans that were disbursed to TU before July 1, 2026 and who didn't withdraw from TU should remain eligible to continue borrowing PLUS loans under the PLUS legacy (PLUS Budget Limits only) for up to three additional academic years or until they complete their bachelor's degrees, whichever comes first. Students who don’t meet the final legacy rules, must follow the new borrower rules above.

PLUS Loan Application Instructions

Before a parent can submit a PLUS application, the student and parent must submit a new FAFSA and wait for the student’s Award Notification, which will explain your maximum PLUS loan amounts. This must be done every year.

The PLUS Application

The federal government won't open the Fall 2026 - Spring 2027 PLUS application until sometime in April.

To apply for 2025- 2026 PLUS loans, use one of these loan periods:

  • Fall 25-Spring 26:  8/2025-5/2026
  • Spring 26:  1/2026-5/2026
  • Summer 26: 5/2026-8/2026

2025-2026 Instructions

  • Go to studentaid.gov/plus-app.
  • The parent borrower must log in with the parent's Federal Student Aid ID.
  • Choose Request a Direct PLUS Loan and complete the application.
  • Rebate Options: To avoid rebate check delays, under Credit Balance Options, choose "The Student." (Parent rebate checks take several weeks longer.)
  • A few days after you submit the application, you should receive an email reply with your credit check results.

PLUS MPN for New Borrowers

The Master Promissory Note (MPN) is the parent borrower’s contract to repay the loan.

  • New PLUS borrowers at TU must also visit studentaid.gov/mpn/ to complete a PLUS MPN for Parents.
  • Repeat parent borrowers should confirm that their MPN is already on file by visiting studentaid.gov/fsa-id/sign-in then My Loan Documents → Completed MPNs.

Application Tips and Common Errors

  • Pay careful attention to which fields want student identity data and which fields want parent borrower data.
  • Enter full legal names for student and parent borrower.
  • One parent is the borrower and that parent must complete all PLUS steps (Application and MPN).
  • The Loan Period can’t exceed one academic year.
  • You must reapply annually.

PLUS Disbursements

Each semester, your PLUS Loan funds will be disbursed to the student’s TU account to help pay their university charges. Any remaining funds will be disbursed to the student or the parent as a financial aid rebate (depending on the rebate option the parent borrower selected).

Four to six weeks after the parent completes these steps and the student has registered for classes, your PLUS funds will appear on your TU bill as Anticipated Aid.

To view the TU eBill, students can login to their Towson Online Services Student Dashboard. Then, from the main Navigation Menu, choose Financials, and What I Owe.

Rebates When Two Parents Borrow

If two divorced/separated parents borrow separate PLUS loans for the same student, and the total semester aid exceeds the semester charges and creates any aid rebates, TU can't control how aid rebates will be distributed between the two parents. To avoid rebate problems, when borrowing the loan on the federal website, both parents should specify that the rebate should be issued to the student, and then the student and parents must coordinate how those rebate funds will be managed by the student or redistributed between the parents.

PLUS Loan Denial Options

If the federal loan processor denied your PLUS loan because of an adverse credit history, you can appeal the denial, obtain an endorser, or request additional unsubsidized student loans.

Appeal the Denial

If you feel the reason that the PLUS loan was denied is no longer valid, you may appeal the credit decision with Federal Student Aid. 

  1. The parent borrower must log into studentaid.gov/appeal-credit/ with their FSA ID. 
  2. Under PLUS Loan Process select Document Extenuating Circumstances.
  3. Submit documentation showing the denial reason is no longer valid. If approved, Federal Student Aid will notify the TU Financial Aid Office. 

Obtain an Endorser

If you are unable to successfully appeal the credit decision, you may also find an endorser to co-sign your PLUS loan application. Choose an endorser with a strong credit history. 

  1. Your Endorser must log into studentaid.gov/endorser-addendum/ with their own FSA ID .
  2. Under PLUS Loan Process select Endorse a PLUS Loan.
  3. Enter the borrower's last name and the endorser code/award identification number the parent borrower received when denied the loan. 
  4. Fill out and submit Endorser Addendum.

Request Additional Unsubsidized Loans

If a parent is unable to appeal the credit decision or use an endorser, the student will become eligible to borrow additional unsubsidized loans based on the PLUS denial. 

  1. Submit a PLUS Denial — Request for Additional Unsub, found at Forms and Online Services.
  2. Students with 0-59 completed credits can request an additional $4,000 in unsubsidized loans for the financial aid year ($2,000/semester).
  3. Students with at least 60 completed credits can request an additional $5,000 in unsubsidized loans for the financial aid year ($2,500/semester).